In The Cloud of Unknowing, the author warns against the errors into which novices often fall, and in The Book of Privy Counseling, he further details how to avoid these errors and perceive if God is calling you to the contemplative life. The author scrupulously clarifies his statements because beginners can so easily misinterpret language describing the spiritual. They hear or read the words “in” and “up,” which spiritual counselors use to convey interior work focused on God, and they misguidedly strain themselves in these directions. In fact, the directions are incidental. Human language cannot adequately express the presence of God, and contemplatives can only experience Him through love. Intellectual curiosity, pride, and egoism may fool a novice into believing that pious thoughts of God’s goodness or Christ’s suffering will suffice, and he risks becoming “like the proud scholars of the devil, experts in vanities and lies” (this page).
God does not intend everyone for the contemplative life, and the author offers practical advice in The Book of Privy Counseling on how to determine if God calls you to it. The author uses the metaphor of the porter and the door to explain how man may reach God: “As God, I am the all-powerful porter and therefore, it is up to me to determine who may enter and how. But I chose instead to make a common, clear way to the sheepfold, open to everyone who wanted to come” (this page). Past sins rust this door, however, and you should wait in contemplation of God’s love until the rust recedes. The author writes that you will receive two signs that he wishes you to enter the doorway: an interior desire for contemplation and an exterior, joyful enthusiasm for contemplation. When these signs intrude constantly into your daily prayers, you are receiving the “secret invitation from God’s Spirit” to pursue the contemplative life (this page).
PASSAGES FOR REFLECTION AND CONTEMPLATION
It is [the contemplative work of the spirit] which gives God the greatest delight. For when you fix your love on him, forgetting all else, the saints and angels rejoice and hasten to assist you in every way—though the devils will rage and ceaselessly conspire to thwart you. Your fellow men are marvelously enriched by this work of yours, even if you may not fully understand how; the souls in purgatory are touched, for their suffering is eased by the effects of this work; and, of course, your own spirit is purified and strengthened by this contemplative work more than by all others put together. (this page)
Nothing is more precious [than time]. This is evident when you recall that in one tiny moment heaven may be gained or lost. God, the master of time, never gives the future. He gives only the present, moment by moment, for this is the law of the created order, and God will not contradict himself in his creation. Time is for man, not man for time. God, the Lord of nature, will never anticipate man’s choices which follow one after another in time. Man will not be able to excuse himself at the last judgment, saying to God: “You overwhelmed me with the future when I was only capable of living in the present.” (this page–this page)
Let your longing relentlessly beat upon the cloud of unknowing that lies between you and your God. Pierce that cloud with the keen shaft of your love, spurn the thought of anything less than God, and do not give up this work for anything. For the contemplative work of love by itself will eventually heal you of all the roots of sin. Fast as much as you like, watch far into the night, rise long before dawn, discipline your body, and if it were permitted—which it is not—put out your eyes, tear out your tongue, plug up your ears and nose, and cut off your limbs; yes, chastise your body with every discipline and you would still gain nothing. The desire and tendency toward sin would remain in your heart. (this page)
[Mary] realized that her evil deeds had cut her off from the God she loved so much and because of that she languished now, sick for her failure to love. And so what did she do? Do you suppose she then descended from the heights of her great desire into the depths of her evil life searching that foul mire and cesspool for her sins, inspecting them one by one in all their minute details in order to tabulate her sorrow and tears more efficiently? She certainly did not. Why? Because God himself, in the depths of her spirit, taught her by grace the futility of this approach. She could sooner have roused herself to new sins than secure forgiveness of her past with tears alone. (this page)
God’s word, written or spoken, is like a mirror. Reason is your spiritual eye and conscience your spiritual reflection. And just as you use a mirror to detect a blemish in your physical appearance—and without a mirror or someone to tell you where the blemish is you would not discover it—so it is spiritually. Without reading or hearing God’s word, a man who is spiritually blind on account of habitual sin is simply unable to see the foul stain on his conscience. (this page)
When you think of sin, intend nothing in particular but only yourself, though nothing in particular in yourself either. For I believe that a dark generalized awareness of sin (intending only yourself but in an undefined way, like a lump) should incite you to the fury of a caged wild animal. Anyone looking at you, however, would not notice any change in your expression, and suppose that you were quite calm and composed. (this page–this page)
Every man has plenty of cause for sorrow but he alone understands the deep universal reason for sorrow who experiences that he is. Every other motive pales beside this one. He alone feels authentic sorrow who realizes not only what he is but that he is. Anyone who has not felt this should really weep, for he has never experienced real sorrow. This sorrow purifies a man of sin and sin’s punishment. Even more, it prepares his heart to receive that joy through which he will finally transcend the knowing and feeling of his being. (this page–this page)
I speak half playfully now, but try to temper the loud, crude sighing of your spirit and pretend to hide your heart’s longing from the Lord. Perhaps you will scorn this as childish and frivolous but believe me, anyone who has the light to understand what I mean and the grace to follow it will experience, indeed, the delight of the Lord’s playfulness. For like a father frolicking with his son, he will hug and kiss one who comes to him with a child’s heart. (this page)
Now to satisfy your proud intellect I will sing the praises of this work. Believe me, if a contemplative had the tongue and the language to express what he experiences, all the scholars in Christendom would be struck dumb before his wisdom. Yes, for by comparison the entire compendium of human knowledge would appear as sheer ignorance. Do not be surprised, then, if my awkward, human tongue fails to explain its value adequately. And God forbid that the experience itself become so degenerate as to fit into the narrow confines of human language. No, it is not possible and certainly will never happen; and God forbid that I should ever want that! Whatever we may say of it is not it, but only about it. (this page)
It is well said that man naturally desires to know. Yet at the same time, it is also true that no amount of natural or acquired knowledge will bring him to taste the spiritual experience of God, for this is a pure gift of grace. And so I urge you: go after experience rather than knowledge. On account of pride, knowledge may often deceive you, but this gentle, loving affection will not deceive you. Knowledge tends to breed conceit, but love builds. Knowledge is full of labor, but love, full of rest. (this page–this page)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. From the outset, the author of The Cloud of Unknowing strictly defines his readership: “You are not to read it, write or speak of it, nor allow another to do so, unless you really believe that he is a person deeply committed to follow Christ perfectly” (this page). He implies an even narrower audience in The Book of Privy Counseling: “My dear friend in God, this book is for you, personally, and not for the general public, for I intend to discuss your interior work of contemplation as I have come to understand it and you” (this page). Why does the author discourage those who are not already “deeply committed” to the life of contemplation from reading his works? Do you meet his standards? How did his emphasis on these standards influence your reading?
2. If “techniques and methods are ultimately u
seless for awakening contemplative love” (this page), why has the author written The Cloud of Unknowing and The Book of Privy Counseling, both of which detail techniques to aid contemplation? Do you think these texts are valuable today as practical guides to meditation?
3. In order “to refute those who erroneously maintain that no one may devote himself to the contemplative life before he has provided for all his material needs,” the author writes, “[God] will prompt others to provide us with food and clothes and life’s necessities when he sees that we will not leave the work of love to see about such things for ourselves” (this page). Do you think the contemplative life is possible and advisable if your “material needs” are not yet met?
4. The author stresses that contemplation helps your fellow man far more than charitable acts do, yet he adds, “Not that he should ever abandon contemplation entirely—for this could not be done without great sin—but sometimes charity will demand that he descend from the heights of this work to do something for his fellow man” (this page). Is the author contradicting himself? What circumstances would call for a descent from the heights of contemplation?
5. The author reveals parenthetically that he has been “accustomed to habitual sin” (this page). What purpose does this admission serve? Does it cause you to question his authority? How would past sin affect your ability to lead a contemplative life?
6. In answer to the question “Who has the right to judge and censure the faults of others?” the author claims, “He who has authority and responsibility for the spiritual good of others may rightfully censure the deeds of men. A man may officially receive this power through the decree and ordination of the Church, or it is possible that the Holy Spirit may privately inspire a particular individual well established in love to assume this office” (this page–this page). Do you agree with this answer? Does the author view himself as a judge?
7. The author warns that the beginner may misinterpret interior work, becoming “morbidly introspective” and “strain[ing] his faculties” (this page). In this “pseudo-contemplation,” the beginner believes he is praying genuinely, but his “eccentric” demeanor exposes the hand of the devil (this page). How can any person be sure that his or her own work is not merely “pseudo-contemplation”?
8. The author asserts that liturgical prayer is a necessary part of the contemplative life: “The true contemplative has the highest esteem for the liturgy and is careful and exact in celebrating it, in continuity with the tradition of our fathers” (this page). Why does the contemplative honor the liturgy? How do you reconcile liturgical prayer with the “one little interior word” (this page) advocated by the author for personal prayer?
9. When Martha censured Mary for not helping with the work, “[Mary] did not have time to notice her sister or defend herself,” because “she was utterly absorbed” in the work of contemplation (this page). Jesus “spoke as Mary’s legal defender” (this page), and the author assures the reader that “our Lord will defend us as he did her,” by “admonish[ing] those who plague us in the depths of their hearts” (this page). Would you defend yourself from unjust criticism or would you trust that God will defend you? How would behavior like Mary’s be perceived in today’s more secular society?
10. How have the author’s style and perspective developed from The Cloud of Unknowing to The Book of Privy Counseling? In The Cloud of Unknowing, he states, “There was a time when it was considered appropriately modest to say nothing of your own without substantiating it with references from Scripture or from the accepted masters, but today this sort of thing is a vain rad in conceited intellectual circles. I would rather not bother with all this since you will have no need of it anyway” (this page). In The Book of Privy Counseling, however, the author relies on such references to illustrate his points. How do you account for this apparent disconnect? Does the author try to convey more or less modesty in his later work than in The Cloud of Unknowing? Has his relationship to the reader altered over time?
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The Cloud of Unknowing Page 19
